Looking at religion-state relations in the context of Orthodox Christianity my project explores the normative-theoretical and conceptual challenges which religious traditional arguments pose to contemporary debates on religion, politics and postsecularism. The project wants to contribute to the definition of “multiple secularism of modern democracies” (Alfred Stepan) with regard to Orthodox Christianity through case studies in Greece, Russia, Ukraine, and Orthodox “diaspora” communities. In assessing debates about democracy and liberal norms in the Orthodox context the project evaluates religious-traditional and cultural-majoritarian strategies of argumentation for contemporary debates on politics and religion. [Further details]

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In the recent history of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian politics, the year 2012 has been a turning point. That year saw the largest mobilization of protesters against the government after the parliamentary elections; in 2012 Vladimir Putin was elected to his third turn as president and received the explicit support of the Patriarch …Read more

German Translation of Bibikhin’s Philosophical Essays “Drugoe Nachalo” Vladimir Veniaminovitch Bibikhin (1938–2004) is one of the best and most known philosophers of his generation. In Russia his name is well known and his works are read and discussed, but so far he has not found due recognition in the West. The lack of attention to …Read more

Due to the recent tragic events in Ukraine and the ongoing military conflict in the East of the country, Orthodox Christianity has become increasingly important to Western observers and journalists in their attempts to explain the Russian support for the Eastern Ukrainian separatists.Read more

It is hard to judge, from today’s perspective, what strategy the Patriarch of Moscow will pursue with regard to Putin’s politics towards Ukraine. But what can be said for sure is that in Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox Church’s approach to pluralism is at stake.Read more

The political and theoretical debate on religion and secularism is afflicted by a theology blind spot. The topic of religion has returned forcefully into the social sciences and into political theory as one of its sub-disciplines, but theology has been excluded from this surge. It is quite understandable that theology as a discipline has not become a part of the academic “return to religion.” Theology, after all, had nothing to return to, since it has always been there.Read more

Routledge Religion, Society and Government in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet States This book examines the key 2008 publication of the Russian Orthodox Church on human dignity, freedom, and rights. It considers how the document was formed, charting the development over time of the Russian Orthodox Church’s views on human rights. It analyzes the …Read more